Former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno will have to endure another criminal trial after the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals announced Wednesday that it vacated his previous conviction but allowed for his case to be retried.

Bruno's conviction on two felony counts of theft of honest services were overturned as the federal appellate court recognized the change in the statute under the United States v. Skilling ruling, which states the honest services statute only sticks if a fraudulent scheme resulted in bribes or kickbacks.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York released a statement that said it will work to put together a superseding indictment under U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Special-Agent-in-Charge Clifford C. Holly. The court pointed to the prosecution's oral arguments during which it said it would not introduce new evidence but would work with the same evidence from the first trial.

It did state, however, that the prosecution could be able to get a conviction on the two counts as there is enough evidence from the previous trial for a jury to reasonably convict Bruno on accepting bribes or kickbacks.

Bill Dreyer, Bruno's chief defense counsel, released a statement on behalf of Bruno that made little mention of the U.S. Attorney's ability to seek a retrial.

"On behalf of Senator Bruno, we are pleased that the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has vacated the convictions and would like to thank the Court for their time and effort in reaching this decision," Dreyer said in his statement. "At this time, Senator Bruno is in the process of reviewing the decision in an effort to determine the best way to proceed."

Attorneys E. Stewart Jones and Steve Coffey said at a press conference Wednesday that the U.S. Attorney's office already had its shot at convicting Bruno and said what is happening now is simply unfair.

"The right thing, morally and legally and out of fundamental fairness, is to let this go," Jones said. "Joe Bruno has paid a heavy price for this. He's now a private citizen, has been one, no connection to government, out of government. He's 82 years of age, he should be allowed to ride off into the sunset proudly. He's done more for this community than anybody else in anyone's memory."

State Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, doesn't agree with that argument and said that regardless of what a public official does for their district does not mean the law should be ignored. He did say, however, that it is unfortunate what Bruno has had to endure.

"All of us, regardless of our position, status or the return given back to the community, are all equal before the law," Canestrari said. "The whole thing is tragic, there's no doubt about that."

In December, 2009, Bruno was convicted of two felony counts of theft of honest services after business dealings he conducted with Albany businessmen Jared E. Abbruzzese and Wayne Barr Jr. through his consulting company Capital Business Consultants which he ran out of his Brunswick home.

The decision states that Bruno had received a total of $200,000 from Abbruzzese and Barr in the form of consulting services. In return, according to the ruling, Evident Technologies received a $2.5 million grant from the state, sponsored and approved by Bruno, to relocate to a building on the campus of Russell Sage College and Barr was appointed to the New York Racing Associations Board of Trustees.

Also, according to a juror after the conviction, Bruno lacked sufficient records as to what services he was providing to Abbruzzese and Barr in return for a pay check. And Abbruzzese admitted during the first trial that there was no record keeping done by either party.